Makita 18v Cordless Pin & Brad Nailers - comments please

[Donald G. Burns]

If I'm not mistaken, most, if not all, "20v" setups are actually 18v...but I could be wrong about that.

Yes. Same number of Li Ion cells in series, just different methods of rating the output. Amps will vary with the amp Hr cell rating used in each battery. Adapters to convert from one brand to a second brand battery terminals solves the issue of having to purchase chargers (and batteries) for each brand of tool.

[Rick Potter]

Careful Don,

Do not expect to charge batteries with one of these adaptors. All that I checked out, including the one I bought are adamant that you do NOT charge batteries with them. You still charge with the charger you already have for your battery platform.

Just sayin'.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Rick -

H Depot Father's Day promos.
Ryobi -20+% - inbound and adapter & brads from Amazon.

Will see soon. Makita batteries charged and ready to go.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I've been following this since I'm in the same boat - everything I have 18V cordless is Makita.
This is sort of a tough call here because - for $199, I can get the Ryobi nailer as a freebie if I buy the Ryobi battery/charger "Performance Pack".

I might just spring for the extra and get the pack.

Good luck Kent with the adapter. Let us know how it works out.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Yeah Rich. I just don’t have any interest in a 2d battery system for low usage. 2 chargers and 4 batteries and 4 tools. Uncle

[Rich Engelhardt]

Kent old buddy..
I bit the bullet and bought the Ryobi Performance battery package for $199 and got the free Airstrike 18ga nailer.

This was a tough call - but - the situation presented itself today where I could charge off the tool and battery pack as an expense item to one of the rentals, so, I decided to just be done with it and accept the fact that I'm now running, Dayglow Green, Red, Yellow and Teal batteries. LOL! This is from a guy that 12 years ago decided to go all corded and just forget about cordless!

Whatta ya say we revisit this thread in about a year and see how things are working out?

[Kent A Bathurst]

Sounds good except Amazon went down a rabbit hole and my adapter has been delayed twice. Maybe by Saturday but they say don’t worry, it’s in the hands of the USPS.

At which point I went and ordered another from a different source due later today. Will return the first one when it gets here in July

I will tell you this though: I guess i simply hadn’t given it any time with the ponder cells. The gun is huge- compared to my old pneumatic Bostich. But of course it has to be - it’s housing a compressor in there.

Just something to get used to. NBD

will check back later

[Jim Becker]

Yea, that's the one thing that's "turned me off" around a battery powered nail gun of any kind, at least for normal woodworking...those suckers are big. LOL Many, if not most, of the current generation of pneumatic guns are downright "dainty". My Grex 23 gauge pinner is a good example! The only place that the larger size will be an issue is if you need to work "inside" of a tight space, however.

[Dave Sabo]

Yea, that's the one thing that's "turned me off" around a battery powered nail gun of any kind, at least for normal woodworking...those suckers are big. LOL Many, if not most, of the current generation of pneumatic guns are downright "dainty". My Grex 23 gauge pinner is a good example! The only place that the larger size will be an issue is if you need to work "inside" of a tight space, however.

well, that may be true with the small nailers like pin and Brad nailers , but the current crop of finish and framing nailers are just as compact and often weigh less than the pneumatic equivalents.

[Jim Becker]

well, that may be true with the small nailers like pin and Brad nailers , but the current crop of finish and framing nailers are just as compact and often weigh less than the pneumatic equivalents.

No argument, and if I was going to be doing construction work and even finish carpentry, I'd absolutely opt for "hoseless". As you say, those type of guns are "about" the same size as traditional tools with current generation. But with brad nailers and pinners, there's a big "size and weight tax" to pay for battery power which was the point I was actually making. Sorry I wasn't clear about that.

[Donald G. Burns]

Careful Don,

Do not expect to charge batteries with one of these adaptors. All that I checked out, including the one I bought are adamant that you do NOT charge batteries with them. You still charge with the charger you already have for your battery platform.

Just sayin'.

Never suggested charging with the incorrect charger. I charge my Makita batteries with Makita chargers and then put my DeWalt adapter onto the battery. Otherwise, there's no point in buying an adapter, because if I had the correct DeWalt charger, I'd also pick up the correct battery to go with it. But since I have 3 Makita chargers and a stack of Makita batteries, to go with a stack of Makita tools, that seemed buying an adapter was the way to go. I bought this adapter to use with a DeWalt portable hand vacuum since everything I've read about the Makita vacuums when compared to the DeWalt model made me not want to buy any of the Makita ones. The only other charger I have is for 12v Ryobi batteries for my 20+ year old, but still useful, lightweight teal blue 3/8" Ryobi drill and there's no way to adapt to that beast.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Its a poor thread that does not generate good info which is off-topic.
[reference: "It's a poor blaster that won't point both ways" - Hober Mallow]

FWIW - got my Makita battery-to-Ryobi tool adapter last night.

Just plugged a battery into the adapter; and the adapter into Ryobi; Fired 3 test nails right off the bat. I'm good.

We now return you to your previously un-scheduled program.

[Jim Dwight]

I think you'll like the Ryobi brad nailer. I have had one for around 10 years and it drove almost all the nails when I totally retrimmed my current house (it has a mixture of trim and I didn't like any of it). It is heavy but the flexibility of being able to just grab the gun and go overshadows the weight. I use pneumatic for 23 gauge pins and staples and larger finish nails. I'm sure a battery powered one would work but they aren't cheap and I don't use them as much. I have a battery powered air compressor (also a Ryobi) that I use with it sometimes. I has a one gallon tank so it will drive even one large framing nail or flooring staple (I tried it). But then you have to wait. It is noisy which I gather is your issue. The $100 Senco I use in the shop is pretty quiet and has more power - I think the motor is only rated 1/2 hp. For finish nails it is as big as I need. I've pretty much converted to Harbor Freight pneumatics. They're cheap and work fine.

I also have a Milwaukee battery powered framing nailer. It's really heavy but then so are the pneumatics. Works great. No problem with capability in the cordless nailers. Only drawbacks are size, weight, and price.